Valentine's Day
by A Raven's Call
Summary: It all started with a simple kiss, however, who realized that a kiss would be disturbed by a backstabbing series of events. It takes some time after Creed's defeat, it can match up in the anime and manga. Alternate Universe. Possible mild swearing& death.
1. Confessions with a Memory

Train crept into the hospital room, his hands hidden behind his back, golden eyes staring intently on the motionless figure hidden beneath piles of bandages. Her butterfly blue eyes closed, the silky blonde hair he had the desire to yank laid in a fan behind her, contrasting with the white hospital gown she donned, a subtle difference to the abnormal white of the hospital. He laid a hand upon her forehead, encircling the Numeral I tattoo tenderly with his forefinger, brushing his lips to her own; she surprisingly did not stir to his touch, she laid there, in the sinking silence, loneliness creeping into the depths of his soul. It was his fault, all his fault, that she lay there in that comatose state, her destiny tinkering on the brink of death due to the grievous injuries she had suffered protecting him for a mysterious unknown reason when Creed was about to land the finishing blow.

_He could remember the blood that had spattered across his chest, hers, could recall the face she had given him, smiling, eyes closed, peaceful, as if accepting her last moments. Then she had done something unprecedented, she had channeled a lightning of some sort up Creed's imagine blade, and soon Creed lay on the ground, writhing in agony, moaning of memories he would have long buried, out of fear. Train's arms had wrapped around her in response, pulling her closer to his chest, as if attempting to shield her from Creed, her breaths were faint, barely noticeable in the sinking fear he was receiving, and she had slipped out of his reach in the world of consciousness._

_The members of Chronos had flown all the sweepers out to a hideaway island nearby, where they were all taken to a hospital run by Chronos, including the Numbers due to the fact that Sephiria was in a critical condition, and it was rash to remove her. Shocking as this generosity was, it was far more surprising that Chronos had allowed members of the Apostles of the Star to travel with them, even more astounding that they permitted Creed to join them, however, it appeared that they were undaunted by the enemies appearance, perhaps Baldor and Kranz fancied some target practice later._

"Train…" a voice penetrated his reminiscences, a supple hand brushing against his face, Sephiria's compassionate blue eyes stared up at him, "you're crying…" she did not say this offensively, only stated it as a fact.

Train did not realize that he had acquired tears, he quickly wiped the tears away, shame burning inside, sweepers do not cry, he feigned an ersatz cough, "No I wasn't Sephi, anyway, how ya doin', nothing serious?"

She did not reply at once, her eyes still fixed upon his excessively cheerful face, almost pityingly, "You look terrible, have you not had any rest at all since you've arrived?" Her hand brushed his, though she blushed at this, Train had the tingling sensation on his fingertips, grinning sheepishly; he unconsciously swept her in to his arms, his arms encircling her. An invisible force was controlling him, compelling him to come closer to the Captain; he could not control himself any longer his lips met hers, and his eyes closed with a sensuality he was unfamiliar with-he desired to know her better, feel every part of her, make her want to laugh, a rare occasion by far. He could not control his desire in this kiss, as he wrapped his arms around her bodice, his fingers delicately weaving her golden tresses, his tongue breaking into her mouth, making this kiss full of passion as his tongue began to play with hers. She moaned slightly, yet she did not break away from his grasp, soon she too embraced him in a half hug, her tongue fighting for dominance with his, bringing a tenderness to quench his coarse movement. Train did not understand how long they held that amorous kiss, whether it was forever or only a few minutes, it brought him heaven while still in the world of the living, it was almost a drug, and he was thoroughly addicted, unable to control his lust for more. Finally, Sephiria pulled away, a hand on his chest, he immediately backed off, knowing he had probably breached some unknown limit, Train took it as his cue to depart. Sighing, he brought the Commander closer to him, placing a teddy bear in her lap, smiling at her slight embarrassment, and bemusement.

Brushing her cheek with another kiss, he murmured, "Happy Valentine's Day," with that, he left her, grinning stupidly slightly, and with the feeling that he was walking on sunshine.


	2. Target Acquired

Yo, I haven't been able to update for a while, thanks for reading! Hmm, I really should warn you that this follows the manga to an extent then follows the anime, so bear with me please. PS if you find any characters out of character, please notify me, knowing me, I'll feel a lot better. Thank you ^_^!

Jenos trooped, accompanied by the Numbers that had infiltrated Creed's island, minus Sephiria, into the lounge that was designed exclusively for Chrono Numbers, in the hospital's lobby. Shaking his head at the fact that it was the fifth day in a row since the attack on Creed's headquarters in which the Captain did not stir from her slumber, he switched on the security camera screen he had wired into her room on day one in order to truthfully say to Belze he had been checking up on her-though he neglected to mention that on infrequent intervals. To his dismay, he saw her wide awake, conversing in casual tones with Heartnet, hand in hand with him, however, what they were conversing was impossible to understand because 1) Jenos couldn't read lips and 2) some naughty person had turned the speaker off-obviously the man with the thirteen emblazoned on his chest. Though Jenos was tempted to tell the others about his discovery, the little demon riding his shoulder murmured about recording it for Belze to view when he arrived once all other hideouts for the Apostles had been destroyed. It would give all the Numbers something to heartily joke about, something they had not been able to for a very long time, for a landslide of reasons, including Beluga's untimely death. As he watched with growing hilarity as the scene unfolded, he realized how beautiful Sephiria could be when she chose to smile, unblemished by her constant need to contain her emotions in order to uphold Chronos' cause. In this meeting with Train, it appeared that the weight of the world lifted off of her shoulders, and the way the two continued to grin at each other, even he, the clueless Lucky Number, had to admit something more than a friendship was bonding the two-though, such conclusions would have to wait, since Rinslet accidentally just waltzed in and needed some attending.

-X-

Mason strode to the designated hospital room, steeling himself for the event that was destined to arrive, Sephiria herself had wrote her death sentence the moment she had defied the Elders the moment before she and her team departed to Creed's fortress. Such a waste of talent, he had thought immediately after her irate departure, for one so skilled to be hindered by that constant bond of emotions tethering her to humanity, perhaps it had something to do with her upbringing, perhaps being personally raised by the Minatsuki's had been a terrible idea after all.

"_So," Sephiria gazed respectfully up at the Elders before her on the screens, her face tightened in apprehension as she slowly allowed her words to leak from her mouth like a dripping faucet, "so, this is the reason why you had Torneo create a Bio-weapon in the first place, to rule the world? Is one third not enough to sedate your need for conquest, or have you forgotten what peace truly means?"_

"_Neither," Wilzark replied, his tone just as contained, just as controlled, however, he was bordering on releasing his rage upon the former weapon utilized in the Taoist War, "would it not be easier to just control the world, with only we, Chronos, as the divine rulers of Eden?"_

_Sephiria abruptly rose from her kneeling position, all terms of conduct forgotten as she strode out of the room, each step stabbing the mosaic floor, once she reached the door handle, she turned around, her azure eyes sparkling as her muttering echoed around the room, "Peace isn't created by total domination, that's only a pale form of one, Wilzark, Kin, Shin, Mason, perhaps it's time you outgrew playing with dolls." With that, their Chrono Number I exited the room, the door creaking behind her as the building inwardly moaned at her decision to outwardly defy them, perchance the building had come to understand her that it was mourning the event that would occur after Creed's defeat._

_Mason glanced at Wilzark expectantly, after a trickle of doubt passed over Wilzark's face, he slowly nodded his head, allowing Mason to perform the deed himself, ironic, the very person he had striven so hard to create was the very person he would be forced to destroy, mutilate, smash to smithereens._

Mason rapped on the door to Jenos' room, which swung open after the first knock, revealing Jenos snoring away on the hospital bed provided, rolling his eyes, Mason kicked the leg of the bed, smashing the cot against the wall, causing massive damage.

"What do ya want?" Jenos grumped, lifting a lid lethargically, his body sprawled in a sitting position on the wall.

"I must see Sephiria, this is of dire urgency Jenos," Mason felt a prickle of unease as he spoke, however, he dispersed his own doubts, traitors were compulsory to be slaughtered, the only exception being Train Heartnet because Sephiria put in a word for him with the Elders.

"Belze told me not to allow anyone to see her-"

"Disregard those orders, I have orders from the Elders themselves, give me the keys Jenos," Mason felt his voice rising, escalating so it rebounded off the room, it was the type of voice that echoed against the sea cliffs over the waves, the tone that caused avalanches to fall in the Nepal when chorused from Sweden. No one would be able to resist commands when given by this intonation, never in Mason's usage of it had it ever failed him, Jenos was no exception as he willingly handed over the keys to Sephiria's suite.

Chuckling slightly, Mason stealthily raced at a break neck pace towards his target's bedroom, after all, he had a mission to complete, he might as well do it with no regrets.

-X-

Train rolled his eyes as he was pushed playfully out by Sephiria, sticking his tongue back at her, he attempted to barge back in, however, Sephiria held out a hand, her face all business now.

"Perhaps it would be better if you left, you look exhausted, you haven't been sleeping," Sephiria lightly commented, nevertheless her azure eyes betrayed the inner tumultuous emotions of her unknown situation. He reached for her hand, the two hands brushed for a split second, before Sephiria retreated from his gaze, back into that lonely hospital room, however, not before she had the ability to slip in, "Don't forget to sleep more Heartnet."

"Women," he muttered to himself as he strolled down the hallway, as he lounged on his twin bed in the room he shared with Sven, he was just about to sleep when he heard an explosion in the corridor, racing into the passageway, he found his breath leaving his body as he saw the tendrils of a stringy smoke rise from the room he had left only a few minutes earlier.

That was short, ah well, lots more coming folks….


	3. I Should Have Cut Her Paycheck

Hola peoples, this is A Raven's Call speaking, I apologize for being a bit longer than I expected on my update because of school and a lot of extra work I piled on myself. Well, I'm sorry if this is a bit fast paced, feel free to comment on that, but I hope you enjoy this story on a lovely stream of time!

Chapter Three: I Should Have Cut Her Paycheck

"Mason, I thought you would never arrive, or at least be late," Sephiria Arks grinned mysteriously, the type of grin a fox would utilize the split second before it pulled a fast one on some unfortunate animal and flee, guffawing it's head off, maybe with stolen goods in its hands. She casually sipped from her crystalline glass, filled to the brim with sparkling water, though she offered him some, he vehemently shook his head, Mason had no time for petty drinks, he had a mission to fulfill, not a cocktail party he was expected at.

"I don't drink with enemi-"

"I already know that Chronos considers me a renegade," Sephiria interrupted him, taking another swig of the fizzing water as she surveyed Mason with a deep dislike. "Did you think I did not realize that you would come after me-I rewired the security system so I have unlimited access to it, and the Communication Room was bugged, another handiwork of yours truly."

"So, you fully intend for us to be enemies," Mason felt a slight pang in his heart as he surveyed his former charge with sympathetic gaze, "after you became our most important member, more powerful than the Elders, more powerful than even me, and the strongest of them all. I understand that you do not appreciate certain policies, but really, it would make those deaths before utterly pointless, and make your creation a waste of time, those sacrifices you experienced, do you really want them to be all for nothing?"

Sephiria's azure eyes turned up the heat in her stare, a passive mask stretching over her face in a breakneck wave, as Mason cautiously backed into the wall, pressure began to emit throughout the room, causing it utter pain to breathe. The glass was crackling ominously as Aria's eyes began to become a ghost of her haunted self, the smile playing about her lips causing Mason to be reminiscent of her days as the Devil's Advocate, the cause to the numerous massacres in the Taoist War, and the sole reason Chronos had obliterated the enemies within a month.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Sephiria tactfully responded, "I had not realized that even the great Mason had feelings, perhaps you really did care for me all those years ago, however, you do understand why I'm doing this, I promised on the last day of the war I would never allow something like that to happen again."

"This saddens me," Mason narrowed his eyes, readying his armor, shooting forward as if released from a taught bowstring, he rushed toward his former Captain, his grey eyes transforming to their usual cold that chilled even his own soul upon gazing into the recesses of the iris. He was unsurprised to discover empty air, as he glared up at the ceiling where his hawk eyes located his target chuckling within slashing range.

"Mason, you're moving awfully slowly today," Sephiria smirked, as she began to brandish the same dagger she once held in her childhood, "you obviously should have realized by now that I had already knew that you were coming, did you really believe I would not be prepared?" Reaching into her black jacket pocket, she wiggled a hand grenade teasingly, the blinking light on the side signaling Mason's military mind to flee, as he barged out the window, evidently aware of the arising danger due to Sephiria's grenade modification specialties, her intonation sounded in his head, "You have ten seconds Mason, then the real race is on, I can promise you that."

-X-

Train was surprised at the smoking room with Sephiria gripping his hand and dragging him out, her blue eyes holding the same concentrated look as they had in Creed's island. "What the-" Train began, however, Sephiria placed a finger to her lips as she pulled him into his room, her ears practically on edge as a Chronos mob raced down the hallway, once they had passed, Sephiria turned to him, her face solemn.

"Hurry up and get Eve, and Sven," she muttered, "we need to get out of here quickly."

Train analyzed her for a second, then raced out without further question, slamming open Eve, and Sven's hospital quarters, he quietly murmured, "Sephiria's ordering us to evacuate, follow me, no questions, NOW."

Hauling the two to his chambers, he discerned Sephiria clicking keys agitatedly out the window, her normally compassionate blue eyes were unwavering as she heard the faint sounds of a vehicle arising to the window's ledge, she instantly demanded, "Get in and hurry up, they're going to be here soon."

"Who?" Eve asked, her naïve eyes flashing in concern as Sephiria pushed her into the most eccentric vehicle Train had ever seen, however, Sephiria appeared to be in a heightened sense of trepidation at the slightest movement in the hallway, the shouts and screams of orders echoing from outside. Finally, once they were all boarded, Sephiria turned the ignition on as the vehicle speedily ascended to the skies, her apprehension vanished once they hit the cloud cover, however, Train, on account of his deep trust within her, had not questioned her, decided now was the time to do it.

As Sephiria breathed a sigh of relief as the vehicle sped to who knows where, she turned around in the pilot seat to face the stunned Sweepers while checking her pocket watch, absently commenting, "Five minutes into the safe zone, not bad, anyhow," her eyes turning solemn, "I suppose you want to understand what just happened."

"That would be kind," Sven grumbled in his seat way in the back, "why don't you explain?"

Sephiria sighed, "I would prefer to say it at a more private time because of...certain circumstances, however, you three have something Chronos desires to exploit for purposes that I have repeatedly told them I am resolutely against, therefore, before they could get to you, I chose to aid you all to abandon the Chronos infested Hospital to freedom."

"And I'm sure you didn't do it out of the goodness in your heart," Sven muttered sarcastically, readying his briefcase aggressively, "I don't want whatever you want effecting Eve, understood?"

Train interjected as Eve glared heatedly at Sven, "Sephiria, you abandoned Chronos for us, I didn't mean for our relationship to cause you to just desert Chronos for me in a turn of a hat-"

"WHAT RELATIONSHIP?" Sven hollered, "HOW COME I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT?"

Sephiria shrugged apathetically, "It only started a couple of days ago, however, the point is not about our relationship Train, though that did make it easier, I need to talk to you both in private, **without** Eve, Eve could you go to the backroom please?"

Grumbling, Eve reluctantly obeyed, as soon as she exited the room, Sephiria glanced back to the two of them, her mouth twisting into a reluctant expression, "I was only made aware of this plan before the raid on Creed's palace, honestly, Chronos was in reality the backers to Torneo Rudman's nanotechnology project, we virtually created Eve in order to use in a machine called Eden that will absorb every living being on this planet, utilizing their life source to keep Eden running and allow humans inside of the machine to live in total contentment. If this fails to work, Torneo created a backup program, which would allow Chronos to reprogram Eve to respond to our every command, creating an obedient weapon in the process that will obliterate everything in its path."

"Oh." Sven gaped, his jaw hanging open as he turned to Train, "I thought this was about a counter conspiracy theory for Masons to take over the world."

"Actually, I thought that organization was the Illuminati," Sephiria rolled her eyes in exasperation, "the basic idea of the plan is to keep Eve away from Chronos because once they install the weapon program, you can't change Eve back."

"Just short circuit the program," Sven retorted, his eyes flashing protectively in response to his foster child, Train sensed Sephiria's sadness as he placed a shielding arm around her shoulder, as if his touch would somehow provide instantaneous comfort.

Sephiria nuzzled into him tenderly, her azure eyes diverting from Sven's accusing ones, "If you short circuit the program, you kill Eve, and even if that program touches Eve, Eve won't be Eve anymore, she'll just be a mindless weapon, which I think is even worse than death."

"Why do you care about Eve so much, or do you just hate Chronos because of this abusive factor?" Sven demanded, Train felt Sephiria tremble underneath him, as she was about to open her mouth, a sharp rat-a-tat of bullets hailed upon the craft.

Cursing, Train gripped Sephiria in one hand as he hung on to the rails on the sides of the craft for dear life, hollering over the hail of bullets, "Sven, go and get Eve in here now!" While Sven raced off to defend his daughter, Sephiria pried herself off from Train's withholding grip as she flipped into the pilot's seat, as the vehicle sprang to life at her slightest touch.

"Transform into speed mode: Rocket, missiles activate, GPS aim to hit the vortex of the atmosphere, computer: prepare to enter space, seal airship," Sephiria demanded as she placed on the headphones, her blonde hair trailing behind her as she desperately worked the controls out of the pursuing jets path, "ascend to space once secure."

"Can I work the guns?" Train questioned her as he placed a hand around her neck, "I never tried firing a gun using an airship's machine guns..."

"The seat for that is right next to me," Sephiria gestured to the seat beside her, indicating that he should put on the helmet, "this is all thought controlled, just think shooting and hitting the target, and you'll get a hundred percent accuracy, I should know, I made this bucket of bolts."

Grinning, Train was astonished at the pinpoint accuracy of the screen as he viewed fourteen jets flying in a v formation behind them, the bullets bouncing off the aircrafts' metal plates, focusing on destroying all the planes, he was pleasantly surprised when he discovered that the helmet responded to his every will, the bullets mowing down the entire squadron in seconds. As Sven and Eve arrived frantically into the control area, Train looking quite satisfied informed them, "Enemies all gone, from yours truly and Sephiria's amazing bucket of bolts."

"Entering orbit to Earth," the automated computers feminine voice echoed in the silent room.

"Thank you Shirley, that will be all for now," Sephiria breathed a sigh of relief as she surveyed the surrounding three people resignedly, "welcome to space, enjoy it because we'll be here for quite a while..."

Train, his amber eyes horrified, moaned in agony, "What! HOW LONG AM I SUPPOSED TO LAST WITHOUT MILK?"

Ah milk, a grave necessity of life, did I tell any of you I'm a milkaholic? Anyhow, please read and review people, constructive criticism is great! ^_^ P.S. Thank you Princess of Doctors for your review, and I apologize for the error of Train against Heartnet, I promise I will Endeavour long and hard to prevent that. Thank you! (And no, this is extremely heartfelt, not sarcastic, sorry it's just kind of hard to tell online because the person is not in front of you physically talking…) Ah well, there's still more coming up! ^_^


	4. Why Steal Grasscutter?

Sorry for not updating in so long, I have been working like a sled dog all summer long. Anyway, I hope to hurry up and finish the fourth chapter soon, but I cannot make any promises. Ugh, why must parents assign homework over summer break?

Anyway, please enjoy!

Chapter Four: Why Steal Grasscutter?

Sven was sick of space, after fourteen days in this tin can he was bored out of his mind, though if it meant Eve's safety he was willing to risk his sanity. Walking along the corridor, he was strolling past the Engine room when he heard voices coming from inside. Pausing, he could not resist but eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Train, you don't do it like that, honestly, must I always do everything myself?"

"Well in this situation Sephi, I don't think you can, can you?" His partner defiantly snapped back, apparently he was irritable as well, though what they were doing in there, Sven had no idea. The stupid door was closed.

"Here, give it to me," the commanding voice of Sephiria Arks drifted into his ears, austere even from the sound waves traveling through the steel door, "I'll show you how it's done." There was a rustle of movement inside the room as Train, judging by his footfalls went over to Sephiria, then her voice carried out of the room again. "See, you have to make sure this goes in all the way, as tight as you possibly can and as far as you can possibly go, then you're finished once you're sure the job's completed, which is point blank obvious."

Sven blushed profusely as he heard this, unspeakable (and censored) images flooding to his head as he heard this, he quickly put his fingers into his ears as he attempted to drown out the sounds coming from the engine room. A noticeable grunt, and Train inquired, "That good?"

"Tighter." It was an order, a demand, not a suggestion. They must be serious.

Another grunt. "That better Ms. Perfect?"

"Perfect Train, perfect." She was almost sarcastic, "Who knew it would take this long to get to this point?"

Unable to take any of this lovey-dovey conversation any longer, Sven knocked on the door, which caused, not a frantic barrage of movements behind the closed metal door, but a casual pace greeting his interruption. To his astonishment, Sephiria greeted him (thankfully fully clothed), her face puzzled as she opened the steel door. "Why the face Sven?"

"What were you two doing in there?" he immediately replied, his face reddening even more as he spoke.

Again, the confusion. "Fixing this bolt and screw that must have gotten loosened in our ascent to the final frontier, what else do you think we would be doing? Train insisted on aiding me, but honestly, he was more of a hindrance than a help."

"I can hear you, you know," Train called from behind her, "the steel door isn't sound proof. This isn't pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."

"What did you think we were doing?" Sephiria ignored him as she surveyed Sven with a curious expression on her face as she leaned on the doorframe waiting for an answer.

He blushed an even darker shade of red, "I'm not at liberty to say at the moment, with my gentlemen's code and the fact that there's a child on board this ship."

Sephiria's eyes lit up in understanding, as her azure eyes morphed from knowledgeable to puzzlement. "Where-"

"Where would you get an impression like that?" Train cut in, his face tinged with a faint trace of lilac.

Fortunately, Sven was spared from answering as Eve was striding down the hallway and the three of them scattered to the winds. An unspoken agreement already created not to talk about this until another time, where they weren't supervised by children.

Eve enjoyed this place, or bucket of bolts as Sephiria had dubbed it affectionately. The food, well, there wasn't much to say about the food, only that it tasted dry and bland after sometime. But the place was interesting to explore, with technology advanced far beyond what was on the market, and with the training rooms there were things to do to pass the time. The quarters were modest until they had arrived in orbit, where it transformed from a dinky spacecraft into this amazing space station, complete with a gravity device that permitted them to walk on the ground as they did on earth. She thought it was called the anti-anti-gravity machine, or something along those lines. Eve, if memory served her well, could recall that Sephiria had prized that beyond all other technical equipment.

"_My little sister made it when she was very young," she smiled as she remembered the moment, "it was one of her earlier innovations. When she left, I took it because it was the few remaining inventions my father had bothered to keep."_

"_Where's your sister now?" Eve had queried, her eyes widening as she thought about the solitary Captain, the former Number I having familial ties with anyone._

_Sephiria's eyes turned solemn as she gazed out the window, back at earth with its beautiful oceans and swirling clouds, the landmasses (even the polluted areas) looking majestic from the dark, cold space. "She probably is still searching for me, most likely, somewhere back on earth. She would never give up on me, even if it meant sacrificing her entire life to help me regain mine."_

"_Would you do the same for her?" _

_Sephiria fixed Eve with the most weighty stare she had ever seen before replying somberly, "If I had to choose between saving the world or my sister, I would sacrifice everything to protect her, including all of mankind."_

"_Even if it meant Train, Sven, and me would die?"_

_Her expression softened into a smile, "Well that would be a much tougher decision, however, I'm always an idiot whenever my sister's involved. I might just naively believe I would be able to save all four of you, no matter who, what, where, when, or how," a film covered her eyes as she seemed to be gazing beyond the room, back to earth viewing something, or someone… "Anyone is running the operation." _

Nonetheless, it had only been fourteen days since they had outwitted Chronos at the hospital, and Eve had to admit that Space was losing it's perks. Not only had there been the constant danger of the surrounding space junk, there was also a need for avoiding any satellites to avoid detection or else someone would be able to lock onto their electrical signal and track them down. That and the adults were acting oddly lately, especially this morning when all three had been blushing profusely. Had something gone on without her whereabouts? It had a high probability of being factual; the adults had been of late secretive in their conversations, always a silent hush following her arrival into the room.

Knowing Train, it could have something to do with a pea brain scheme to go back to earth to have milk once again. It would have been plausible, this hypothesis, if not for the participation of Sephiria in such conversations. The severe and compassionate Captain of the Numbers, well, former Captain, would not even believe it worth her time to partake in such discussion. They were planning something, plotting something, and somehow, Eve knew she was in the eye of the storm, by chance in the middle of the crisis, in the heart of it all.

-X-

Mason glared at the assembled Numbers, minus two, before him, annoyance crackling off him like a lightning storm, causing Emilio to back away from him in apprehension. That was good. Some fear was perfect for keeping subordinates on their toes, especially if he wanted to deliver a convincing piece of information to determine where their loyalties stood.

"As of now," his voice was clear over his silent comrades, "Sephiria Arks is no longer your Captain; she is now just like Number XIII. A Former Number. Just another fragment of the past that is to be hunted and killed. Any opportunity to result in her death must be taken at all costs, we cannot allow this renegade to weaken our iron grip on the world."

Jenos piped up innocently, a hand in the air, "One question Mason, why is Sephiria considered a traitor?"

"She aided in the escape of a vital weapon that will provide Chronos with the necessary military support it needs to dominate the entire world. Apparently, this little weapon strikes a bit too close to home." He felt no emotion now, something must have snapped after that conversation with her, just the way she had _known_, had _expected_ him to come… She had him play right into her little foxy paws… Humiliating really, and excruciatingly painful to report to the Elders; the looks on their faces were priceless. Honest to God if it weren't for his preparations for Eden, he would be hunting her down himself and handing her severed head to the Elders on a silver platter. Oh, that would be rich, and to get back for that nasty fist through the neck punch she had given him so many months earlier. Maybe if he was permitting himself to be cruel to the utmost extent he would murder that pacifist twin sister of hers before she discovered the eternal sleep. Though, that would not take too long, the provisions for Eden would be complete by tonight, then he would exploit her crucial weakness with help from the greatest thief money could buy...

"But did you ever wonder why she disagreed? Did you do something to someone close to her or experiment on her to leave an imprint that weapons used for military support are terrible?"

It was Kanzaki, or Doctor as he preferred to be known as responded for him, "The viewpoint she took is understandable if you knew her background information, however, that is classified so you will never be able to discover why, I am unsure to her reasoning myself. Nevertheless, it is perfectly clear that she valued her opinion over Chronos' and sought action by herself. Therefore, she must be eliminated for the good of the organization." He had been recruited for Chronos' cause early on once he discovered his Taoist powers from the elixir, and had been vital in creating Eden by being their spy within Tearju Lunatique's laboratory. He had also been the genius who had made the mind program to cause Eve to become a living doll and entirely under Chronos' control, all that needed to be done now was put it on Eve.

"I'm sorry," Jenos replied, his mouth curling into a cruel grin, "but I just cannot agree to that explanation or reasoning behind her own reasons. She was not the type to go run off without a word to anyone unless it was absolutely necessary. Even then, didn't she outwit our best pilots and escape into space Mason? You are attempting to destroy something so elusive that I'm sure Nessie could take tips from her. You're just a lost cause Mason."

Mason's mouth relaxed as he discovered the golden opportune to set his plans into motion, "Is that so Jenos? At last, I have found where your heart belongs, with the treacherous Captain. Good, I have many uses for you traitor…"

=X=

Rinslet Walker bit her lip as she prepared to undergo her task that she was required to do, knowing that she was certain to bring down the full force of a certain someone's animosity upon her. But what else could she do? Either steal the stupid sword from the shrine or Jenos would get it, Mason had already proved that he was replaceable at this point. She felt a slight shiver run down her spine as she thought about that decrepit old man, looking so frail and fragile, but would rip out your throat at the moment your guard was down.

"_You understand that your boyfriend's life will be taken if you are unable to retrieve the sword at the Atsuta Shrine," he grinned maniacally, his hands folded assertively on the desk separating them. The desk was his moat, the drawbridge of his castle, with his words being the messengers ferrying the plans for a compromise or negotiations between the besieging army. However, this compromise was pure demand, no say for the other side this time. This was his territory, his area of expertise, and there was nothing Rinslet could be able to do in order to impede his progress. _

_There was something about those piercing grey eyes, they seemed to suck the warmth from the air around them, steal every shred of happiness. The owner of those pair of eyes was parasitic to emotions, fattening himself up on every moment of the room. It was similar to Sephiria, when she had met her before, not the time at the Japanese Restaurant, but way, way, back, to the time when Sephiria had Train's eyes. The eyes unafraid to rip and kill, slaughter every woman, man or child that dared to cross her path, yes those were the days…_

_She managed in a small voice, "But she's going to kill me, you know how she reacted last time when a client had me steal the sword."_

"_Trust me, once you get it into Chronos' possession, everything will be smooth sailing after that," Mason reassured her, smoothing back his fine grey hair, "Sephiria will be putty in our hands with that blade. You are dismissed, for now, and Belze, I know you're waiting politely behind that door, kindly come in, I have some business to discuss with you…"_

Taking a deep breath, she managed to slip between two rafters in the Japanese Temple, pausing with her breath held tightly, she waited for the two priests walking down the hallway to pass before continuing onto the road to the sacred sword. At long last, she had reached the concealed area where the sword was kept in, surrounded by fantastical murals of the kami depicted doing numerous activities. Such naïve people, believing that no one dare steal it, but with the mural and almost divine belief with the sword, perhaps they thought no one would dare do such a deed.

Steeling herself for the task that lay ahead, Rinslet took the heavy blade in her hands and ran like the wind out of there, out to the designated rendezvous point. She found Belze with Jenos, waiting for her, his eyes unreadable as he surveyed her.

"You have the package?" he inquired rhetorically, "Give it to me, I must check to verify its reality." She silently handed it over, watching as he expertly spun the blade around in his fingers, checking the dimensions and giving it a few practice swings. "This is a fine blade, Kusanagi is indeed a formidable sword. Rinslet, take your boyfriend and leave, and pretend you were never involved in this ruse. Jenos, I apologize for Mason's behavior, your interrogation was not my department this time, unfortunately."

"Not my department?" The bruised Jenos snarled sarcastically, gesturing to his marred face, "That is the type of excuse any kindergartener would give. Sephiria would never have-" However, he cut off his ranting when he saw the genuine sorrow in Belze's eyes as he gazed at him one last time before turning away to the characteristic black car of Chronos, a little puppy (or big bulldog with puppy characteristics) running back home to his master. They both watched the car drive away before speaking again.

"We need to warn Sephiria," Jenos inputted immediately, "this is all to get her to come out of space; I don't know why they turned against her yet they want her here because of something or someone. Mason kept talking about a Bio-weapon or something during his torture session."

Rinslet looked at him in horror as she finally put two and two together, "Eve. That's the only Bio-Weapon I know of, and she left with Sephiria from what I heard from Kevin, and Silphy."

"Why they would want a little girl is beyond me, however, somehow we have to contact Sephiria or the whole world is pretty much screwed." Jenos was one hundred percent serious now, no trace of his Casanova or flirtatious tendencies apparent.

"Oh joy, fill me in about it because Mason lacked clarity when he was blackmailing me." She looked at Jenos, her customary personality returning since the danger had passed. Wondering what Jenos seemed so engrossed about, she followed his vision to a bunch of Japanese schoolgirls giggling and waving at him.

"So cute, imagine what they'll look like when their olde-"

She socked him in the face, dragging the slightly smoking body behind her, she muttered darkly to herself, "Men…" You never could tell, solemn one moment, flirting the next…

Must remember to keep working more on this (pulls on headband). Please Read and Review !


	5. Remain Neutral

Dang, it's been a while since I posted hasn't it? Busy summer. No Rest. WORK! WORK!WORK! I'm actually kind of glad I'm back in school without parent boot camp…. Anyway, please read and enjoy!

Chapter 4: Remain Neutral

"Grasscutter doesn't belong to you, Mason," a waitress said pleasantly as she set down the jasmine tea, the rest of the Numbers eyeing her apprehensively. She was treading dangerous waters. Mason had not been acting in his normal manner for some time now, not since Sephiria had been declared a traitor. He found that they were correct, perhaps his betrayal struck a different chord this time, it was to regret to say that he did miss her.

Mason originally had been experimenting, trying to get the feel for the blade and was ashamed to admit that she was correct, it was awkward to hold, much less wield with the proficiency his armor granted him in battle. But she had been able to tell at a glance, so she was much more than a mere waitress. He met her gaze with a penetrating reply, "What's it to you? Who are you?"

She held up her hands defensively, "I'm neutral, I don't care who wins or loses this battle in Chronos as long as I get what I want. But, that sword is part of the Emperor's regalia, so I do suggest you give it back."

"Why?" Mason gestured to his comrades, "I believe I would be able to take him on any day."

This time she smiled, and for a second Mason thought he saw a flash of similarity to someone behind those eyes, but he quickly dispersed the thought. It couldn't be… Sephiria had been with Chronos since the Taoist War, alone, as an orphan, no he was just seeing things. The waitress pulled a lock of reddish brown hair behind her ear, "Not with that ragtag team against Onmyouji. What good is modern weapons against the magic and mysteries of the past?"

"So you were sent by the Japanese government?" Mason inquired politely, "Do sit down then so we can conduct business in a more formal tone."

"Don't mind if I do, my name is Minamoto no Saty by the way, pleased to meet you." Her whole attitude was defiant, as if she knew she could move the world if she had really wanted to. Beneath that cocky gaze, you could tell, that this was not someone to cross. Perhaps twenty three years old with beautiful flowing reddish brown hair, her face was mischievous like Sephiria's had been when he first met her. Blue grey eyes that blazed with this smoldering inner fire she refused to allow blaze through her iris and into the real world, barely containable hatred. Yes, that was it. She had a chip in her shoulder that she refused to share with anyone but herself. A very powerful customer, Mason thought with a smirk, he would enjoy the idea of taking her on.

"By the way, if you're wondering, since I'm neutral, the Japanese government is not my benefactors, I'm only supposed to hang around with you guys and watch how this is supposed to blow over." She shrugged nonchalantly, "Personally, I find this babysitting job really annoying, so could you at least get me some Inari sushi? I'm starving."

Mason chuckled at her nerve, he commented absentmindedly, his former Captain still on his mind, "Sephiria would always order Inari sushi as well, any relation to her perhaps?"

Saty's eyes flashed for a moment so that blue grey fire managed to pierce the surface of reality, however, she quickly exterminated the blaze before replying calmly, but a too calmly for his well-trained ears. "No, I never had any relation to her whatsoever."

Yes, a cool customer indeed, now to unlock the mystery behind her past and then he would manage to snag her in his plan of manipulation.

Perhaps he would be able to get another fox caught in the mix as well., thought surprisingly this fox had been a no show for now, but he had a feeling she would resurface soon enough.

-X-

"Shirley, please tell them to stop calling me," Sephiria ordered irritably, "the answer is still no. I won't endanger Sven, Eve, or Train because of their stupid little theft. I don't care who did it, but I will not go back to earth, I will not be the one responsible for the activation of Eden."

"As you wish Sephiria-sama."

Sephiria rubbed her head ruefully, she had a feeling she knew who was behind all these annoying prank calls. That child wouldn't give up, would she? She had never accepted that Sephiria had severed all ties with her and put all their family to slaughter, to the butcher's knife. Sighing, she glared at the whip she was holding sadly, it had been a while since she had felt this in her hand.

"Well, that's unsurprising since you decided to play head honcho assassin." Sephiria didn't even turn around upon hearing the familiar tone of her Uncle's voice.

"You know I had no choice in the matter, don't you Uncle? It the entire clan or my sister would have the life I have now, unlike you I actually care about my sibling!" She was surprised to find her voice rising, more emotion pouring out of it. Another action uncharacteristic of her. Could Train be having some effect on her?

"You know that mortal you've taken to hanging around?" her Uncle's voice was harsh, and her head snapped around sharply. He was exactly as she remembered him, his beard long as always (which was not allowed due to his punishment of course), his sword, the Heavenly Flycutter draped over his back, adding a flair of décor to his already sweeping expensive silk robes. This was his favored form of course, he could become crueler and less unrefined at his beck and call, but his imperial dress signified this was no social visit.

"Leave him out of this," she said more sharply than she intended, "he did nothing in this matter."

"But Father says that we get to have permission to kill him in order to get your cooperation in this International Spiritual Matter, anything to get you to join the fray." He smiled sadistically, "They already know about Eden crisis you are currently managing, but this is of the utmost importance or I was sent to convince you of otherwise."

It was her turn to smile, shaking her head and summoning the now fixed form of Christ to her hand Sephiria pointed out, "You were never able to defeat me Uncle; I won't let you hurt them."

His eyes widened, "I never expected the rumors to have been true, you HAVE gone soft. I thought Tsukiyomi was joking the way he said it, but I think that mortal did his job well."

Sephiria opened her mouth to say something insulting but Train slammed the door open, all smiles and laughs as he said, "Sephi, Sven just finished dinner, we're all waiti-." His voice broke off as he saw her Uncle. "Who's the old dude with the beard that looks a mile long?"

Sephiria expertly roped her Uncle's arm with her whip to prevent him from murdering Train for that comment replied evenly, "Train, meet my Uncle Susanoo, he's going to be staying for dinner."

Train looked at her strangely, "How did he get to our ship?"

"I tracked Sephiria's aura here because we desperately need her help back in Japan, with Saty not listening to us and we're not allowed to mess in the affairs of mortals…" Susanoo looked frustrated and flustered, before he continued, "Perhaps we should discuss this over a table."

Train nodded his head slowly, "O-kay…" Putting an arm around her, he led her out of the room, her Uncle following them close behind, looking at them with interest.

Rolling her eyes, Sephiria pulled Train to the dining room, by the Kami; this was not going to be a fun family reunion.

-X-

The tension at the table was a mile high. Sephiria and Susanoo kept staring daggers at each other in a raging silent converSation that the other three were not part of, while Train was watching their faces very carefully for any emotional signs behind their words when they did speak to each other. Finally, Sven broke the uncomfortable dinner table silent conversations.

"So, Susanoo right? What do you do in your spare time?"

"Oh, whip up storms, destroy ships, and further my reputation as the summer storm." He said this so casually that even Eve had her mouth wide open. Sephiria cut in for him, her eyes turning a hauntingly frightening shade of red as (she most likely kicked him under the table and) poured him some more tea.

"What my Uncle means is that he is a fisherman that fishes in the southern sea, right Susanoo?" The tone of her voice was threatening, even to Susanoo, who _should _have had more power than that little half-breed, but her red eyes… No, the Sephiria he knew had not disappeared even under that tender little black cat's care. Good, that was the Sephiria he needed to recover the sword, or else he would never be able to cause balance with the now raging kami, and perhaps his Father would forgive him for his past actions.

"Yes dearest niece," he replied dutifully, waiting for her usual indignant reply, however, it never came. Perhaps she was a combination of her past and present self, but she still could be manipulated, especially when her sister came into the equation.

"_Onee-sama! Onee-sama! Read to me! Please?" her younger sister ran over to where Susanoo and Sephiria were sparring, interrupting the two of them. Susanoo wasn't complaining; Sephiria had been merciless today and he could already sense he had four broken ribs._

"_Oh, Kitsune-chan," Sephiria lifted her into the air, and swung her around and around, causing Kitsune-chan to laugh aloud._

"_Faster Onee-sama!" her little sister showed no signs in hearing her pet name being used by her older sister uncharacteristically. Normally she would become almost as scary as Sephiria upon hearing it's usage. Sephiria complied with her demands with an easy smile, no sign of her callous aura apparent, no she was all smiles and her aura had softened so much. _

"_I think Uncle," Sephiria had set Kitsune-chan down for a moment and turned her gaze to Susanoo, "that our spar is over for today, it seems I have other things to attend to."_

_Susanoo nodded, while internally thanking Inzanagi for his interference, by Amaterasu, that little seven year old could pack a punch. He was not looking forward for another bout-next time if he put her in a foul mood, he might not be so lucky._

"_Like me Onee-sama!" Kitsune-chan wrapped her arms around Sephiria's legs, "I won't let go unless you play with me."_

_Sephiria smiled tenderly as she pried herself from Kitsune-chan's grip, bending down so that Kitsune-chan could climb up. "Don't worry Kitsune-chan, I won't go anywhere, come on, let's go home." She gave a casual wave to Susanoo before departing faster than he could conjure a storm. What an intriguing relationship, a spoiled brat with an aloof recluse who would always indulge her. How they got along so well was beyond his sphere of knowledge._

"_What do you think Amaterasu?" _

_His sister gave a start behind him, "How'd you know I was here?" She sounded disappointed, and he turned around to find her pouting, "I wanted to surprise you, you're such a mean younger brother."_

_He smiled as he listened to her reply, "Yes, the older one is the one who's one of us, the younger one is the one who's going to cause all the problems."_

"_Are you trying to imply something?"_

"_Yes, Sephiria is going to turn out pure and perfect like the sun, while Kitsune-chan will become the drop out of the family… Like YOU!" she stuck him hard with her finger, "So Father told me to tell you to keep an eye on them."_

_Susanoo glared at her. "He kicked me out and he expects me to do work? What is this? I need a labor union!"_

_Amaterasu combed back her long dark hair, wiping her face with a handkerchief she had gotten from Tsukiyomi, as she commented lightly, "I'm surprised you paid attention to modern day vocabulary and ideals, a labor union, really? Anyhow, I really must get back to my post, I'll see you later Su-su!" She gave him a kiss on the forehead and waved._

"_DON'T CALL ME SU-SU!" he roared defiantly._

"_But you look so funny when I do," Amaterasu smiled, a perfect imitation of their niece's whenever she attempted to irritate someone, infuriating him even more. He had seen that smile far too often lately, especially after his weekly bouts with Sephiria. She apparently thought she had overstayed her welcome and in a flash of light had disappeared. Shaking his head, Susanoo sat down on a nearby rock as he thought of the lifeline of his favorite niece. She wasn't going to have a happy life, Inzanagi's interference proved that much. Such a pity since she was one of the more civil of the last of the Minamotos. Something told him that she would become the center of numerous events especially a coming one that would shatter the delicate peace she had managed to negotiate with the Minamotos and Chronos at seven. Yet another instinctive gut feeling told him that Kitsune-chan would loathe her for it. But premonitions didn't always come true, and Susanoo vowed this would be one of the cases._

"You know, Kitsune-chan is right in Mason's inner circle, Inzanagi had ordered her to wait it out to see what would happen," Susanoo spoke those words casually, however, Sephiria seemed to hear them at once.

"What is my sister doing dealing with him? Inzanagi knows that ever since that incident her health has been fragile."

"Well, she is an Onmyouji capable of defeating Abe no Seimei, ever since you left she's been training to defeat you. She is powerful, I visited her beforehand and I must admit that in the state you are in now, she could give you a run for your money."

"Your sister is with Mason?" The Nanogirl, Eve, spoke for the first time. "I would like to meet her."

"Eve, you can't," Sephiria said in the same soft tone of patience she used with Kitsune-chan, "I won't risk you for my sister. She made her decision to be with Mason, if she gets killed," her voice shook slightly for the first time. "It won't be my problem."

Susanoo knew her better, and could see that the effort of speaking those words had taken much effort out of her. Even her eyes were revealing the fact that she did care about what happened to Saty, her crucial weakness was that one person she had allowed to live of the entire Minamoto Clan descended from Yoshitsune. She loved her little sister so much that he felt guilty manipulating her like this.

Sephiria set down her chopsticks as she looked down at the Inari sushi, as if she was seeing someone eating the same dish in that moment. "You know what will happen once I commit myself to this task Uncle."

Susanoo knew, and he knew that even if he answer yes or no, she would still go down back to earth to salvage the pieces of her sister's life. "Yes I know what will happen."

Train, her mortal boyfriend butted in by slamming the table. He and Tsukiyomi would have gotten along just fine, they had the same mannerisms, but unlike Tsukiyomi, he was not cold, rather, he had the same tender personality Sephiria had in relation people precious to them. "It doesn't matter what your relatives want Sephiria, I don't care if you say yes or no, but remember this." He smiled at her as he displayed a thumbs up, "No matter where you go, I'm coming with you because I love you."

Susanoo commented airily, "That was quite blunt, I wonder how you two managed to get together." Train's eyes narrowed at him as his hand tightened around Hades.

"I'm going too," Eve declared obstinately, "I have to face Chronos sometime or another, why not now?"

"Because they still remember the Project Eden, Eve," Sephiria interjected, "I really don't want you to suffer, not like-."

"Like she did," Susanoo cut in, "but enough of that now, it's now or never. Amaterasu is soooo pissed at you Sephiria by the way so she might go hide in a cave again unless the sword is returned."

"Really?" Sephiria inquired, her eyebrows rising prominently, "I thought she would have matured by now."

"Obviously not! Maturity is for mortals, like YOU Sephiria!"

"So I think we're going to have to save the world again, don't you Captain?" Train inquired, holding out a hand, "I think we need a leader to guide us."

Susanoo surveyed his niece sorrowfully as he waited for her answer, and almost saw her take Train's hand in slow motion with her "yes" taking an eternity to hear. He could see her compassionate smile return and those azure eyes returning to that tender gentleness. He barely heard her mutter about proceeding cautiously, all he could do from crying was keep a straight face.

It seemed that his vow to Amaterasu could not be kept after all.


	6. Remember What was Lost

You can thank half days for this chapter, I had time to do this. Finally! Enjoy!

Mason just thought his mind was playing tricks on him, but sure enough, Sephiria was behind him. He could imagine her eyes glowing blue in the dark, penetrating his inner emotions, a unique quality she picked up after arriving at Chronos. Originally, she was just supposed to be a mindless experiment, wrought from one of Wilzark's more eccentric schemes. Like Eve's hand in the Eden project to allow Chronos to control the whole world, Sephiria was supposed to be their mindless little doll. A living weapon he reasoned, fit only for Chronos, made only for Chronos, and to stand only for Chronos.

She had been the bargaining chip in an alliance between the Minamoto Clan of Japan and Chronos to negotiate major dealings in the Underworld and would aid both parties' worldwide influence. Sephiria had already been good, very good, when she arrived on Chronos' doorstep. He had been her caretaker as they developed her abilities into a host for the nanomachine known as Black Lightning. It had permitted her domination over her cells to create elements, the ones of old and new, even more than her original abilities.

But there had been a price to that one thing.

Sephiria used to be such a smiling child, but her transformation had been absolute. Once you saw those red eyes take over the iris, Mason shuddered inwardly at the thought. You were dead. That much was a fact.

Being the test experiment had hurt her, and once the experiment was deemed as a failure, it had been HIM. HIM of all people to comfort her, to take her under his wing. He had sculpted her into the perfect Captain, intelligent, demure, manipulative, and empathetic, you name it, she would understand. Yes, she had been his daughter, and something told him, she enjoyed his fathering as much as he did. Why was he thinking about this now? when she was staring at him so murderously, ready to take back what was rightfully hers?

"So," he croaked, "you came back."

Sephiria didn't reply as her footsteps were heard through the entire room. Mason felt a flash of fear as her cool fingers danced upon his throat.

"I should kill you," Sephiria murmured, more to herself than anyone, "I should kill you to protect this world to going to the dogs."

"You couldn't," Mason felt sweat dripping down his face, running onto her fingers. Damn, she knew he was frightened of death, and she gained greater power by his show of fear in this psychological warfare.

He thought he heard her laugh, "Fortunately for you, Lady Luck seems to be on your side because I promised someone I wouldn't kill anyone."

"Train Heartnet, I presume?"

"Take the sword out of the vault," Sephiria commanded sharply, avoiding his inquiry bluntly. Considering his options, Mason had more than one way to loop around the will to obey.

"OPEN SESAME!"

The vault door was throw open, however, at once, Sephiria was surrounded by all the remaining Chrono Numbers, each armed with their characteristic weapon of choice.

Mason held Grasscutter teasingly before her. "It looks like I have you in checkmate. Saty, care to do the honors?"

"With pleasure."

Mason saw Sephiria's eyes dart to see the slowly approaching figure of Saty and was surprised to find that she was highly amused. As Saty grasped Grasscutter in her hands and held it to Sephiria's throat, Sephiria chuckled audibly.

"How fascinating. It appears that even with that folly I made you still haven't severed all ties with me yet, Kitsune-chan. Look, even now you're trembling."

Mason sharply turned to find Saty's grey eyes suddenly wider, almost fearful as she moved to slit Sephiria's throat. Her hands… They were shivering, causing Grasscutter to easily be ripped out of her hands as Sephiria with the astounding speed she was known for. The blade glowed with a golden light, almost as if the two had been finally reunited. Sephiria, however, did not look triumphant as she surveyed the scene; her eyes narrowing as she quickly realized something. And she did not look happy about it.

"Kill her!" Mason commanded.

In a flash, before anyone could move, Sephiria was gone. Mason felt a small smile of satisfaction shift to his face, everything other than Sephiria stealing the sword, was going according to the plan. Still, the emotions that had returned were unprecedented, he would have to control them better in the future.

He placed a comforting hand on Saty's shoulder. "You did well."

Saty looked at him mournfully as she glared once again at her trembling hands. "I thought I had grown stronger since then, since that time. But it seems that the distance between her abilities and mine has grown so that my powers appeared to be diminished. Damn!" Her fists clenched as she snarled in aggravation. "I thought I could kill her when the time came, apparently, I can only when the trembling stops."

"I can help you," Mason smiled as he saw a flash of Sephiria's face in Saty's. "I can teach you the art of assassination, all you have to do is listen to what I have to say."

He thought he heard someone ridicule him for his actions, someone urging her not to take the offer. Was it Sephiria's voice? Was she that ingrained within him so she constantly could berate his conscience even now?

"I'll think about it, I still haven't decided what I wanted to do yet."

No, Mason thought sadly, as he walked out of the room with Belze by his side, I haven't either.

-X-

Sephiria returned to the current hideout in Izumo that her Uncle had managed to 'convince' the owner to let them have for the night. Smiling at the familiar sword in her hand, she focused her mind at the issue at hand. Her eyes narrowing at the thought, she burst through the available open apartment window. Her sudden appearance startled Sven, Train, and Susanoo who were drinking coffee at the circular kitchen table.

"Where's Eve?" she demanded.

"In there," Sven replied, "why-"

Sephiria ignored him as she crashed into the bedroom where Eve apparently was innocently reading a book. Her voice echoed ominously in the apartment, reverberating as she uncharacteristically screamed, "TI'IN!"

Immediately, Eve's calm form was replaced by a small brown haired girl looking ten years old with her hands up in surrender, her eyes wide when she looked at Sephiria's azure. "I'm sorry, Saty made me do it. Rikugo was supposed to kidnap her, while I would pose as her. I'm really, really sorry. Honest! I didn't know! Please! Don't kill the Messenger! WAH!" Sephiria dragged her out of the room by the scruff of her shirt, finally stopping her tirade; she placed the shikigami in front of the three sheepish men in the kitchen.

"Please meet Ti'in, one of the twelve shikigami under the command of Saty Minamoto, one of the most powerful Onmyouji that has come into the existence since Abe no Seimei. She was posing as Eve, and I'm sure not one of you noticed."

She groaned as she looked sadly at her Uncle, apparently she would have to perform that worst case scenario duty. Feeling like the weight of the world had once again fallen on her shoulders, she steeled her resolution. "Alright, since Eve has been captured with hostile forces, we are going to need to do this. No mistakes are allowed, we only have one shot to allow her to retain her soul. Got it?"

Nods all around. Good. Somehow, she felt as if they were saluting her off, like a kamikaze pilot heading off to their line of duty.

-X-

"I'm loading the databases into Eve's nanomachines' mainframe," Kanzaki murmured to Mason, "it should take twenty four hours at the maximum for it to fully upload and be absorbed completely and irreversibly." Saty watched the events sullenly, wondering why Tsukiyomi had sent her there anyway. Of course, the revenge was reason enough, however, why did she have to go on and watch those people plug in commands to that innocent child. She did regret her part in that, it almost reminded her of Sephiria, and how she would come home from Chronos looking more and more disturbed as the days went by. No, her older sister would never mention anything that would happen there, but whatever they did, she changed because of it. Saty doubted that Sephiria would have murdered everyone if she hadn't gone to that wretched place.

_That day it was raining. But you couldn't really tell the difference between the falling rain and blood, it eventually just mixed together in pools that hallowed the ground. Everyone was on the floor, dead. While Saty was just running away as fast as she could as she watched Sephiria's advancing figure. _

"_Why did you murder everyone? WHY?" Saty cried out as Sephiria caught up to her, her grips preventing her from escaping. Saty bit her in frustration, however, Sephiria's face was like a mountain, unemotional throughout the wear and tear of the seasons. _

"_I had my orders," she replied as coldly and detachedly as before. "I was supposed to assassinate all of the Minamotos, but I don't think I have to kill you."_

"_I wish you did!" Saty continued to attempt to wrench herself free. "Then I would have died honorably like everyone else!"_

"_Well then, live with hate. Loathe me, curse me to the end of the earth, perhaps one day you'll be able to avenge their deaths." Sephiria looked at the horrified faces of the dead and sighed softly. "I did warn this would happen if they did not appeal to my demands. Ah well, at least I had a chance to verify my existence."_

_Saty looked up into her normally laughing elder sister's face, you couldn't tell if she was crying or not, the rain mixed flowed from her face like tears. "I guess the next time we meet will be on the battlefield, see you later Umi." Her sister simply disappeared after that, leaving her with the scores of bodies in the cold rain. There was a fine line between hate and love, and her love had just slipped into the depths of hatred._

Saty smiled as she remembered that name. Umi. The ocean, the sea, it had been her name since she was born, though she preferred Saty now, a nickname that did not spark the interest of so many. It permitted her to blend with the society, and become just one of the nameless citizens that no one cared about. Like the ocean, she had bided her time, like the pull of the tide, training to avenge, and training to kill. Her drive had caused her to become the star Onmyouji known in her 'other' world, and therefore allowed her to reign and dominate the legendary twelve Shikigami who were only commanded by Abe no Seimei. But why? Why did her resolve that was so resolute fail to destroy Sephiria when she had her in her grasp? She thought she had improved but…

Glancing at Eden's monitors, Saty noticed out of the corner of her eye movement, and was surprised to see Sephiria's face before the camera went black. Grabbing her seals, she looked at Mason pointedly. "We have intruders in Sector 4, may I dispatch them?"

"Do what you want with them," he said with a smile, "do as you please."

-X-

Rinslet was surprised to discover that the Captain actually had a heart. Not only did she manage to recall all the available Sweeper Alliance members to aid the assault on Eden, she actually seemed to care about what happened to Eve. She didn't know where the bitchy Commander who manipulated her enough to go to Creed's headquarters went, but she sure as hell wasn't there.

"_The assault is simple," she said quickly, placing a point on the blackboard that had a picture of Eden. "I'll distract them long enough to lure them down to Sector 4, this area." She pointed to the cargo area of Eden. "This will allow all of you to proceed to Sector 5, which is right here. This is three sectors away from Eve's location and the closest entrance to that area. You will get there by this hatch that I will tell to land you there. Consequently, my entrance will probably distract the other Numbers enough to allow you to jump two sectors, after that you'll have to fight your way to the room. I'll do my best to try and break in from the top of the ship with the distraction. Also, word of warning, do not try to destroy Eden in any shape or form, that will speed up the melding process with Eden… Kapeesh?"_

"_Question actually," River said politely raising his hand. "Why are you helping us anyway? I thought you were one of those crazies that are devoutly loyal to Chronos or something like that."_

_Sephiria's smile was tight as she turned to face the window. She paused for a second, as if unsure of how to answer. "I am afraid you're confusing me with Baldor and Kranz. I have no intention of blindly following the Elders, several incidents have proved this point, though I am sure none of them will matter to you. Anyhow, I'm fighting against them simply because several points have put me at odds with them. As of now, we are all in the same boat. We'll leave it at that."_

Well, it was impressive how they did manage to escape Chronos and her view for how many months? Ages they lay hidden in space. She glanced up at the night sky, it was peaceful full of twinkling stars, not a cloud in sight. Almost like someone above wanted to witness the battle coming. She turned her head sharply as she heard the sharp clang of metal ringing out into the night. Glancing at Jenos, she gripped his hand in hers as they jumped into the prevailing wind that carried them into Eden's hull with ease. It was going to be a long night…

-X-

Sephiria buried her face in her hands as she looked at the whip on a pedestal she had sealed away for so long. Gripping Grasscutter, she slowly reached out to take it. It was time to lose herself in the stream of time that was going to engulf her. It was time for her to return.

"**Hello Inari. Have you decided to take me up again?"**

Just an important note, that last quote in bold is like this internal voice or maybe soul imbued in the whip speaking to Sephiria. Just thought I would say that for clarification. Wow that was a short chapter. I promise the next one will be longer. And more exciting. I cross my heart hope to die, stick a needle through my eye. I promise!

Thanks for reading.

Reviews? (Does puppy dog face).


End file.
